Winding apparatus



April 25, 1967 J, J. WE1-MR 3,315,908

WINDING APPARATUS Filed May 3, 1965 Anmnlmmrlcxmm W Inventor Justin J. wetler s2 s3, 3m, 6MM mi@ United States Patent() 3,315,908 Y WINDING APPARATUS Justin J. Wetzlar, Evanston, Ill., assigner to F. W. Means 8c Co., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed May 3, 1965, Ser. No. 452,499 Claims. (Ci. 242--67.1)

The present invention relates to an improved winding apparatus and more particularly it relates to a winding apparatus for rolling a predetermined length of webbing into a c-ompact, tight roll with self-starting of the winding operation and discharge ofthe wound roll of webbing from the apparatus Without handling by the operator.

One particularly advantageous use for the apparatus of the present invention is for rolling or winding lengths of toweling used in the continuous towel discharge cabinets. Suchtoweling generally is in 50 yard lengths for use, although other towel lengths may be used. It should be noted that most towel lengths may be wound with the apparatus set forth herein said apparatus automatically adjusting for the varying roll diameters in accordance with the towel lengths.

In accordance with the present invention I provide an improved winding apparatus for winding lengths of webbing into roll form with self-starting and with discharge features that do not involve operator handling. I provide an apparatus with one belt moving in one direction and with a cooperatively acting belt moveable in the opposite direction with webbing therebetween. A defiectable starter member is provided to initiate the rolling action prior to entry of the web between the counter-moving belts.

It is, accordingly, a` general object of the present invention to provide an improved winding apparatus.

Another object of the present invention resides inthe provision of lan improved web winding apparatus for winding lengths of webbing into roll form. i

An additional object of the present invention resides in the provision of animproved web winding apparatus having counter-moving belts for winding lengths of webbing into roll form. i

A further object of the present inventionresides in the provision of an improved web winding apparatus having counter-moving belts for winding webbing into roll form and with means to self-start the winding operationwithout a mandrel, or the like, and without operator intervention in the starting operation.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved web winding apparatus with selfstarting` means associated therewith for winding web lengths into roll form and having means to discharge the l wound roll from the apparatus without handling by the operator.

ing web lengths into roll form that is simple in construction, economical t-o manufacture and use, that is easy to use, that is fully effective in use to wind web lengths that are widely variable, and that automatically accommodates many web lengths.

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, together with further objects and advantages thereof, Will best be understood byreference to the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

3,315,908 Patented Apr. 25, 1967 ICC FIGURE 1 is a Side elevation of the apparatus of the present invention showing the apparatus ready to` receive a length of webbing for winding therein intoroll form; v

FIGURE 2 is an end section of the apparatus of FIG- URE 1 taken from the entry end of the apparatus;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary, enlarged view, partly in section, of the apparatus of FIGURE l showing particularly the counter-moving belts and the -deilectable starting means ofthe apparatus; and,

FIGURE 4 is a view of the apparatus as shown in FIG- URE 3 with a web substantially fully wound and in winding position between the counter-moving belts of the apparatus.

Referring more particularly now to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, the apparatus of the present invention is indicated generally at 10. A support bed 12 is provided for the apparatus and comprises a general frame assembly that forms no special part of the present invention except in the carrying out of the invention in the particular form disclosed herein. It should be noted that other support means may be devised that are equally acceptable for use with the apparatus disclosed.

As indicated above, one particularly advantageous use of the apparatus disclosed herein is for winding lengths of toweling used in continuous towel discharge machines normally placed in zrestrooms, or the like. These machines employ towelingr in about yard lengths. When the toweling has been fully used it is loosely wound upon a take-up roll in the cabinet. The service representative removes the soiled roll from the cabinet and inserts a clean roll. The soiled roll then is cleaned and processed ready for the next use. In cleaning the toweling it is threaded through a cleaning assembly', laundered, conditioned for anti-bacteriological purposes and then ironed.

After the ironing operation the toweling is rerolled and then packaged. The discharge belt 13 of an ironer (not shown) is illustrated in FIGURE 1. The discharge belt is shown as having its own support means 14. The webbing (or toweling in this specific illustration) then is passed along an inclined transport table 16 to pass it into open view for inspection either by human inspectors trained for this purpose or by photoelectric scanning means, or'the like. Of course, if automatic inspection means are used in processing the toweling then it is not necessary to pass it over an inspection transport table of the type shown in FIGURE l.

A drive means 18, which preferably will be' an electric motor, is associated with the apparatus 10 and includes a drive pulley 20. A first pair of rolls 22 and 24 is rotatably mounted on the support bed 12 in fixed position thereon. A tension roll or pinch roll 26 is mounted in substantial roll-to-roll contact with the roll'24 of the apparatus to define a web tensioning reference `point in the apparatus and to assure tight winding ofthe roll during the winding operation. It should be observed, however, that tightly wound rolls of web-bing have been obtained during testing and experimental use of an 'actual-embodiment of the above apparatus without -use of the tensioning means defined by the rolls 24 and 26.

A rst belt `2li is movably supported at either end of the apparatus on the rolls 22 and 24 thereof. The belt 2S moves in accordance with movement of the belt drive roll 22 which is connected to the drive pulley 20 through a belt 30. It should be observed that the pulley 20 may be a sprocket and the roll 22 may be provided with a sprocket so that a chain drive may be used instead ofthe belt drive noted above. When the belt 30 is driven in the direction shown by the arrow 31 the belt 28 will move from right to left in FIGURE 1. The ybelt 2S moves along a support table 32 between the rollers 22 and 24 of the apparatus said support table 32 providing a: rigid horizontal reference and support for the belt to prevent sagging and to define to vertically lixed winding reference for the apparatus. An upstanding support member 34 is affixed along Veither side of the `lbed 12 `and defines meansfor vertically members 40 and extends downwardly toward the lbelt 28. v

The member 42 may be a resilient strip of material that is suiciently dellectable not to interfere with movement of the belt 28 or to cause undue wear of said belt. The member 42 maybe in vcontact with the belt 28, as shown in FIGURE l, or it may be mounted such that the'lower terminal of the member 42 is at a position slightly spaced from said belthowever the space betwen the lower terminal of the member 42 and the belt 28 should be sufciently small to intercept any webbing passing therebetween and to cause the webbing to be deflected and' to fold upon itself to initiate rolling of the webbing. Preferably the member 42 will flex inwardly of the winding apparatus as seen in FIGURE 1 so that it will be in contact with the webbing for a slightly longer time period and thereby lly interconnected with the drive roll 22 for the first belt 28,

the direction of movement of the drive rollers is reversed automatically and no reversal need be accomplished by other complex means. Further, the drive ratios vmay easily be kept in a one-to-one relation with this drive means.

To assure tight winding of the webbing or toweling in the apparatus set forth herein the second belt 45 must be capable of applying a force against the roll of webbing as it is being wound so thatrthe webbing will not have a tendency to oscillate in the apparatus and so that it will 'be tightly wound upon itself. To assure this function, the belt 45 is provided with tensioning means which automatically compensate for varying roll diameter as the webbing is being wound in the apparatus. Further, guide members G are mounted along either side of the belts 28 and 45 in the lwinding area to define means for lateral web control (shown only in FIGURE 2).

A rst tensioning means is dened by a roll 58 rotatably mounted on a pair of arms 52 pivotally supported Iby the support means 34 of the apparatus. A spring 54 is amxed at one end to a rigid support and at the other end to the arms 52 of the first tensioning means. The spring 54 biases the tensioning means downwardly as seen in FIG- URE l to bring Vthe roll into Contact with the belt 45 and to deflect the belt 45 in accordance with the combination of the weight of the tensioning means and the restorative force inherent in the spring 54 at any given level of expansion and the moment applied to arms 52 by the spring. Thus, when the arms 52, for example, are moved upwardly from the position shown in FIGURE l, the restorative force will increase and the force applied by the roller t) to the belt 45 will increase as a function of the increase in -assure a start of winding or folding of the webbing upon l respectively, to the arms 6i) at a point remote from the pivotal mounting of said arms thereby applying a force moment to the arms tending to rotate them toward the springs.

` Discharge control means 70 is supporta-bly positioned on the arms 62 of the apparatus. The means 70 includes a control cylinder 72 and a piston 74 operably associated therewith. The free end of the piston 74 is pivotally aixed to a linkage 78 which linkage is connected to the arms 60 to move the arms in accord with movement of the piston 74 of the assembly. When a length of webbing is being wound in the apparatus the cylinder-piston assembly is in a floating condition whereby it will be acted upon by movement of the arms 60 and will neither assist or resist movement of the arms 60. When the webbing is fully wound, however, the piston 74 is extended to pivot the arms 60 clockwise, as seen in FIGURE 1, to

vcause the roll to lift away from the belt 45. In this manner the belt 45 may be raised and will permit the fully wound roll or webbing to be carried out of the winding portion of the apparatus by continued movement of the belt 28.

The operation of the apparatus may best be described noting the progress of a length of webbing through the winding apparatus from introduction to the fully wound condition.

As seen in FIGURE 1 of the drawings,`the webbing (in this specic illustration toweling for continuous towel discharge cabinets) exits from the ironer discharge area and passes onto an inspection table, which in FIGURE `1 is shown as an inclined transparent table. If automatic inspection apparatus is being employed, of course, it will not be necessary to pass the webbing over an inspection area. Also, if toweling is not involved and some other media may be in the apparatus, inspection may not be required.

The lead end of the webbing then passes over the roll 24 and onto the entry portion of the belt 28. The moving belt 28 carries the lead end of the webbing along and into contact with the deflectable starter member 42, as shown in FIGURE 3. When the lead end of the webbing strikes the member 42 it is stopped while material behind the lead edge continues to move toward the member 42. The lead end of the webbing is stopped and the next succeeding section of webbing moves under it. The inherent stability (however small) of the webbing material will cause the lead end ot move in another direction. Of course, if the webbing is more rigid than the deflectable starting member 42, then the webbing will push the member 42 aside and continue to move along with the belt. In the present instance, however, the member 42 is of a relatively stiff belting or rubber material and is significantly more rigid than the webbing W being wound in the apparatus. Since the webbing W cannot move down or straight ahead it will move upwardly. As the webbing W continues to move toward the member 42 the upwardly deiiected lead end and succeeding portions will collapse p under their own weight and the webbing will begin to fold upon itself. This continues in successive sections until the folded portion of the material (now beginning to dene a roll shape) is more rigid than the trailing edge of the deectable started member 42 in contact with the belt 28. When the folded webbing W is sufficiently rigid it will pass under the member 42 and will continue in the folded form into the area between the belt 45 and the winding portion of the belt 28. As seen more clearly in FIGURE 3, the roll 38 is slightly elevated and in spaced relation to the belt 28 to permit the folded section of webbing W to pass freely thereunder. If this roll and the belt moving thereabout were too close to the belt 28 the folded webbing W would not enter and the winding operation would not occur. The roll 6.5, however, s spaced from the belt 28 4by a distance just sufficient-to permit the belt 45 to remain out of contact with the belt 28 during operation of the winding apparatus and when the roll 65 is in the full down position as shown in FIG- URE 3.

The folded over lead end section of the webbing W will enter into the inter-belt area since it is carried along by the continuously moving belt 28. Preferably the webbing W will engage the belt 45 at about the midsection between the spaced apart rolls 38 and 65. The angle of the moving belt 45 with respect to moving belt 28 may be adjusted such that contact between the webbing W and the belt 45 will occur in the section desired.

At this stage of the winding operation the roll 50 and the roll 65 are in full down position. The tension placed on the belt 45 by the rolls 50 and 65 in the full dowtn position should be suicient to assure tight winding of the webbing W in initiation of the winding operation. It should be noted that in this position the springs 54 and 68 will be most relaxed and the tension on the belt will be at a lower level than during later stages of the winding operation. This is in accordance with preferred operation since less tension will be required during the early stages of winding with a small roll diameter than in the later stages with a large roll diameter and amount of webbing resisting the pressure of the belt 45.

As winding progresses the belt 45 is deected to pa'ss down and about the roll 65, up and over the wound section of webbing W and down and about the roll 38 to pass beneath tension roll 50 and return to drive roll 36 (as seen in FIGURE 4). As the rolled diameter of the webbing W increases the rolls 65 .and 50, respectively, move upwardly to adjust the tension on the belt and to accommodate the increasing roll diameter simultaneously. This action continues until the length of webbing W is fully wound and the electric eye (for example) E senses passage of the trailing end of the webbing W. At this time the assembly 70 is energized to extend the piston 74 from the cylinder 72 causing the arms 60 to rotate clockwise to lift the roller 65 sufliciently to permit the fully wound roll of webbing W to move along with the belt 28 under the roll 65 and belt 45 and onto the discharge portion of the apparatus where it passes to a wrapping or packaging area to be finally prepared.

In a modified form of the present invention the member 42 might be eliminated and folding of lthe web W realized with the belts `45 and 28. IIn this form the belt 45 would be stopped briey on introduction of the lead edge of the web W while belt 28 continues to move (a releasable clutch means may be used in the drive ch-ain for belt 45). This wil-l cause the lead portion of the web W to fold over repeatedly and start the rolling operation. The belt 45 then is conditioned to travel about its rollers to continue rolling the web.

While a specic embodiment of the present invention is shown and described it will, of course, be understood that other modifications and alternative constructions may be used without departing -from the true spirit and scope of the invention. It is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modiiications and alternative constructions as fall within their true spirit and scope.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent, is:

1. A winding apparatus for winding lengths of webbing into rolls comprising:

ya support bed; said bed having an entry section, a winding section and a discharge section;

a Ii-rst belt movable in a rst direction and supported on lrollers mounted on said support bed;

deectable web winding starter means mounted above said iirst belt and positioned along the entry section thereof and adjacent the winding section, said deilectable means having a portion thereof extending deflectably onto said rst belt;

a second belt movable in a second direction opposed to the direction of movement of said first belt and supported on a pair of xed rollers mounted on said bed, said xed rollers deining in part, the path of movement for said second belt, deilectable roller means, biasing means to urge said deilector roller means against said second belt to provide tensioning means against a growing roll of webbing to adjustably vary the pressure engagement of said second belt with said web during the winding operation, whereby a web of material may automatically be wound in said apparatus without operator attention during the winding operation.

L2. A winding apparatus as in claim l wherein said deflectable roller means include a plurality of rollers, and further including means to move one of said deectable rollers to a release position to discharge the wound web from the winding apparatus, and biasing means to automatically return said deflectable roller from said release position to `a winding position upon discharge of a wound roll, whereby a web of material may automatically be wound in said apparatus without operator attention during the winding operation.

3. A winding apparatus `as in claim 1 wherein said rst belt extends along the length of said bed Iand denes said entry section, winding section and discharge section; and further including a pair of tension rollers mounted on said support bed to pinch webbing therebetween and defining a reference point in tensioning of the webbing in the winding apparatus.

`4. A winding apparatus as in claim 3 wherein said support bed rollers are a `first `and second pair of iixed position rollers; and further vincluding drive means mounted on said support bed, said rst belt movable by said drive means in a first direction and supported on said `first pair of rollers, said deflectable web winding starter means having a portion thereof extending deectably onto the entry section of said rst belt.

5. A winding apparatus as in claim 4 wherein said second belt is mounted on said support bed and is movable by said drive means about `the second pair of xed position rollers and is in engagement with said deectable roller means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 672,215 4/19011 -Lewis 242-55.1 2,353,821 7/ 1944 Fourness et al. 242-67.1 2,939,645 I6/ 1960 Rowlands et al. 242-56 iFRA'NK I. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

G. F. MAUTZ, Examiner. 

1. A WINDING APPARATUS FOR WINDING LENGTHS OF WEBBING INTO ROLLS COMPRISING: A SUPPORT BED; SAID BED HAVING AN ENTRY SECTION, A WINDING SECTION AND A DISCHARGE SECTION; A FIRST BELT MOVABLE IN A FIRST DIRECTION AND SUPPORTED ON ROLLERS MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT BED; DEFLECTABLE WEB WINDING STARTER MEANS MOUNTED ABOVE SAID FIRST BELT AND POSITIONED ALONG THE ENTRY SECTION THEREOF AND ADJACENT THE WINDING SECTION, SAID DEFLECTABLE MEANS HAVING A PORTION THEREOF EXTENDING DEFLECTABLY ONTO SAID FIRST BELT; A SECOND BELT MOVABLE IN A SECOND DIRECTION OPPOSED TO THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID FIRST BELT AND SUPPORTED ON A PAIR OF FIXED ROLLERS MOUNTED ON SAID BED, SAID FIXED ROLLERS DEFINING IN PART, THE PATH OF MOVEMENT FOR SAID SECOND BELT, DEFLECTABLE ROLLER MEANS, BIASING MEANS TO URGE SAID DEFLECTOR ROLLER MEANS AGAINST SAID SECOND BELT TO PROVIDE TENSIONING MEANS AGAINST A GROWING ROLL OF WEBBING TO ADJUSTABLY VARY THE PRESSURE ENGAGEMENT OF SAID SECOND BELT WITH SAID WEB DURING THE WINDING OPERATION, WHEREBY A WEB OF MATERIAL MAY AUTOMATICALLY BE WOUND IN SAID APPARATUS WITHOUT OPERATOR ATTENTION DURING THE WINDING OPERATION. 